It certainly does pay to work in Alberta.
Data released Tuesday by Statistics Canada shows that among tax filers in Canada, Alberta had the highest median wages, salaries and commissions for any province at $45,580 in 2018.
“Based on 2018 data from the Labour Force Survey, Alberta was the province with the highest share of individuals usually working 40 hours or more per week (61.2 per cent). Employees in Alberta also had the highest median hourly wages ($26.67) in the country,” said the report.
Among the country’s census metropolitan areas, Edmonton topped the list with a median income at $47,220 followed by Ottawa-Gatineau at $46,480 and Calgary at $45,790.
Nationally, the median was $38,350, which was up 1.4 per cent from the previous year. Edmonton saw an annual increase of 0.1 per cent while Calgary fell by 0.1 per cent. Alberta’s year-over-year increase was 0.2 per cent.
“According to their main industry of work, tax filers with the highest annual median wages, salaries and commissions were employed in utilities ($99,320) and mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction ($96,450) in 2018. The medians in these sectors were largely unchanged from 2017,” said the federal agency.
“In most cases, individuals working in sectors with the lowest median wages also saw the largest percentage increases in wages, salaries and commissions from 2017 to 2018. The median income reported by tax filers in accommodation and food services ($16,190) and arts, entertainment and recreation ($17,180) rose 5.5 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively in 2018.”
Mario Toneguzzi is a business reporter in Calgary.
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